A federal judge has approved a Justice Department settlement that clears the way for a multibillion-dollar technology deal over the objections of a group of state attorneys general, a victory for the Trump administration.
Democratic attorneys general from 12 states and the District of Columbia asked a court in October to reject a settlement allowing Hewlett Packard Enterprise to buy Juniper Networks, an information technology firm, for $14 billion. The Justice Department had originally sued to block the deal, but cleared it after HPE agreed to sell off part of its business.
The attorneys general asked the judge overseeing the case to block the settlement on the grounds that HPE had improperly lobbied senior Justice Department officials to reach the deal. The states argued that the settlement was ineffective and corrupt.
Judge P. Casey Pitts of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said in his ruling on Wednesday that the states had “performed an invaluable public service in bringing to light additional details about the machinations at the D.O.J.” But he said they had not proved that the settlement would not be in the public interest.
Judge Pitts also said that under federal law, the Justice Department and the companies should have disclosed more details of the settlement negotiations. The failure to disclose that information did not mean he had to reject the settlement, he added.
A spokesperson for HPE said the company was “gratified” by the ruling. Stanley Woodward Jr., the Justice Department’s associate attorney general, said in a statement that “this politically motivated charade should finally come to an end.”
A spokesman for Attorney General Phil Weiser of Colorado, who led the opposition to the settlement, said the state was reviewing the decision and considering its options.
The Trump administration has taken a laxer stance on allowing mergers and acquisitions, which critics have said would typically receive more regulatory scrutiny for possible harm to competition. The administration has declined to challenge deals like Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and has reached settlements that allow deals to proceed under certain conditions.
State attorneys general have increasingly stepped in to challenge those mergers, including suing in July to try to block Paramount’s studio deal.
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